Latest news with #Basic
India Today
5 days ago
- Business
- India Today
NPS pensioners to get more benefits under Unified Pension Scheme. Details here
In a major relief for retired central government staff, the Finance Ministry has announced extra benefits under the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS). This is especially for those who have retired under the National Pension Scheme (NPS) on or before March 31, CAN GET THESE BENEFITS?If you're a central government employee who retired under the NPS and has completed at least 10 years of service, you are eligible. If the retiree has passed away, their legally wedded spouse can also claim UPS benefits will be given in addition to your existing NPS pension. As per a press release dated May 30, 2025, 'The Central government NPS subscribers who retired on or before 31/03/2025 with minimum 10 years of qualifying service or their legally wedded spouse can claim the following additional benefits under Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), over and above the NPS benefits already claimed.'WHAT ARE THE ADDITIONAL BENEFITS?Eligible NPS retirees can either get a one-time payment based on their last drawn Basic Pay and Dearness Allowance (DA) for every six months of service, or receive a monthly top-up if their current pension is less than what they'd get under UPS with Dearness if any, will be paid with simple interest, as per the PPF interest TO APPLY?advertisementThe Ministry said that retirees can apply either online or offline, they need to visit their Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) and submit the form. Those applying online can do so through the official website. The deadline to apply is June 30, earlier this year, government data showed that over 6.4 crore people joined the EPF and ESI schemes between September 2017 and November 2019, while more than 16 lakh individuals enroled under the NPS during the same Watch
CNBC
26-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
It's the last chance for Southwest plane tickets with two free checked bags, as policy ends in days
Set your alarm. Southwest Airlines customers have only one day to go before the company starts charging to check bags for the first time in more than half a century. Starting Wednesday, Southwest will end its blanket "two bags fly free" policy. It was a perk that was sacrosanct among customers and the airlines' longtime executives alike, setting the airline apart from competitors. But baggage fees brought in nearly $7.3 billion for U.S. airlines last year, according to federal data, and Southwest executives who have long vowed to hold onto the policy have been under pressure to raise revenue. The airline hasn't yet said how much it will charge to check bags, but rivals generally charge about $35 or $40 for a first checked bag for domestic flights, though there are some exceptions. Along with starting to charge for checked bags, Southwest has announced major changes to its business model over the past year, like getting rid of open seating. The carrier is also debuting basic-economy tickets like those sold by Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines on Wednesday. Here's what travelers should know about the end of free bags on Southwest: Southwest will no longer offer two free checked bags with many tickets purchased on or after Wednesday. For tickets purchased before then, a Southwest spokesman said the carrier will honor the terms of those fares, like the two free checked bags. The fees will apply to its no-frills Basic, its Wanna Get Away Plus and its Anytime fares. Southwest announced the policy in March after months of pressure from activist Elliott Investment Management, which took a stake in the airline last year and won five board seats, pushing for major changes at the company like its free checked bags, changeable tickets and open seating. Yes. Travelers with top-tier status in Southwest's Rapid Rewards loyalty program will get two free checked bags, as will customers in the highest-level Business Select fares. Customers with a Southwest Airlines co-branded credit card and their travel companions booked together with the same card won't get charged for their first standard checked bag. A-List frequent flyer members, the second-highest tier in the loyalty program, will also get their first bag checked free of charge. Southwest on Wednesday will also start selling basic-economy tickets. With the new Basic fare, customers won't be able to make changes to their tickets, they'll be among the last customers to board and their fare credits will expire in six months, compared with 12 months for other ticket classes. In another change, the airline is ending its Wanna Get Away fare, which was the lowest tier ticket before the changes. Southwest has been known for its open-seating model for decades. Loyalists often obsessively check in a day before their flight in hopes of scoring a favorable boarding slot. But later this year, Southwest says it will start selling tickets for flights in 2026 that will have seat assignments. It is also outfitting its planes with extra legroom seats, like many of its competitors, that fetch higher prices. Southwest executives have told staff that they expect passengers to carry on more luggage (those policies for free carry-ons aren't changing) and have said the airline is installing larger overhead bins on its Boeing fleet, which should help with an influx of carry-on bags. Executives have also said staff will get mobile bag-tag printers at gates and airport lobbies to assist customers. Southwest can hardly post on social media — even about babies and puppies on board — without getting angry comments about the changed baggage policy. But CEO Bob Jordan told CNBC last month that the policy change announcement the company made on March 11 hasn't deterred customers. "We have seen no book-down on that day or after that day," he said on "Squawk on the Street" on April 24.
Daily Maverick
18-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
SA's expanding labour force caught between hope and a crumbling job market
The labour force figures for Q1 of 2025 released by Statistics South Africa painted a grim picture of South Africa's labour market. As people continually enter the labour market, the stats show that the government and business need to start thinking innovatively to ensure there are enough jobs to go around. This week, South Africans were once again confronted by the news that the nation's already dire unemployment rate had deepened when Stats SA released its Q1: 2025 Quarterly Labour Force Survey on Tuesday, 13 May. The official unemployment rate rose to 32.9%, a 1% increase from the previous quarter, and the expanded unemployment rate escalated to 43.1%. On Tuesday, Daily Maverick reported on how South Africa was not only losing jobs, but large numbers of people are dropping out of the job market. While the working age population has grown by 130,000 from the last quarter, pushing the group to 41.7 million people, the labour force contracted, meaning 291,000 people lost their jobs. These 291,000 people joined an already crowded group of South Africans who are living through joblessness. It is important to note that while the labour force stands at 41.7 million people, only 16.8 million people are in active employment. This means that about 25.1 million South Africans are vying for employment in a market that simply does not have enough jobs to accommodate everybody, and young people are disproportionately affected. Youth locked out: The battle for a first job One of the clearest indicators of how dire the battle for jobs is, is laid bare by the sheer number of applications the nation's different job placement programmes and initiatives receive. The Youth Employment Service (YES) initiative is a public-private partnership focused on providing meaningful work experience for young people by partnering with businesses in the private sector. In an interview with Daily Maverick, YES CEO Ravi Naidoo revealed that since its inception, the programme has placed 187,200 young people in full-time 12-month work opportunities. However, 4.68 million young people have applied to YES over the years. 'That's between 25 to 30 applicants per placement,' said Naidoo. 'We'd give more opportunities if we had more sponsorship. But YES is 100% privately funded — we don't receive a single rand from government.' At Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, a similar pattern emerges. In the last Department of Basic Education Employment Initiative (DBE-EI) alone, over 13.8 million applications were received — from just 1.4 million unique youth applicants — competing for roughly 207,000 positions. 'That means a single candidate applied to an average of 290 schools, just for one potential placement. That kind of volume illustrates just how desperate young people are for a foot in the door,' explained Bongani Kgomongwe, Head of Data at Harambee. Kgomongwe said that Harambee had experienced a similar trend in the other job placement and learnership opportunities it facilitated, not to the same scale as the DBE-E. Despite the well-documented shortages in key sectors, such as teaching, nursing and early childhood development, the government has failed to align available human capital with existing needs. Kgomongwe highlights this disconnect: 'Yes, there seem to be positions available, but even if we close those skill gaps, we are still coming up short in terms of actual placement opportunities. Producing a million matriculants a year while offering a fraction of permanent jobs is not sustainable.' He emphasises the urgency of rethinking qualification routes and leveraging non-traditional pathways like coding bootcamps and data training programmes that don't require three- or four-year degrees. 'We've learnt that traditional proxies like degrees are not always necessary. Programs that identify aptitude — and train youth in 6- to 18-month sprints — can fill gaps faster and better,' he said. The depth of the crisis As economic analyst Duma Gqubule starkly put it, 'We should never normalise this crisis. The world unemployment rate is 4.9%. More than 80 countries have achieved full employment. If others can do it, why can't we?' Gqubule points to a mismatch between the growth of the labour force and sluggish economic expansion. Since 2008, the labour force has increased by 8.8 million people — but only two million jobs have been created, and just 1.2 million of those are in the formal sector. 'Our economy over the past 16 years has grown by just 1.1% annually. We need a GDP growth rate of at least 4% just to keep up with new labour market entrants. To reduce unemployment, we need 6% growth or more.' Gqubule argued that no single institution was directly responsible for job creation, yet the government needed to be more proactive in its approach to job creation. 'The Treasury is focused on creating budget surpluses, and the Reserve Bank on inflation. If the two most important institutions in the economy don't care about jobs, who will create them?' he asked. What will drive job creation? Three pillars must underpin any national job creation strategy, according to Gqubule: Massive economic growth The economy must grow faster and differently. Growth must be labour-intensive, targeting sectors such as manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture. 'We need industrial policies that increase the employment multiplier — the number of jobs created per percentage point of GDP growth. Our current structure doesn't absorb the skills of the people we actually have.' Expanded public employment programmes The government must drastically scale up initiatives like the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and the Presidential Employment Stimulus. 'We need a new institution — a quasi-public agency — that funds and monitors these programmes. The goal should be to create five million work opportunities, not just the 1.8 million we have now.' Gqubule recommends funding this by abolishing the ineffective Employment Tax Incentive, which he calls a 'basic income grant for employers,' and redirecting funds from the R137-billion surplus in the Unemployment Insurance Fund to fund the new dedicated national jobs agency to ensure SA's public employment programmes are well funded and sustainable. YES as a scalable model for impact According to Naidoo, YES is twice as large as all 21 Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas) combined in terms of completed full-year placements, despite being entirely funded by the private sector. He said that even though YES was not funded by the taxpayer, the initiative delivered more than the Setas and internships funded by the government. 'We've had over 1,800 companies fund youth placements. The only constraint is sponsorship,' said Naidoo. Naidoo said that in 2023 alone, 7,300 YES alumni started their own businesses, making it the largest pipeline of young entrepreneurs in the country. 'They're not just workers — they're becoming future employers,' Naidoo said. 'The idea is to make youth the solution to youth unemployment.' What must change? Both Gqubule and Naidoo agree that economic growth alone isn't enough. Growth must be labour-intensive, and it must come with deliberate pathways from education to employment. 'You can't study plumbing and never touch a pipe,' Naidoo noted. 'We need real work experience linked to vocational training. Otherwise, we waste the billions already being spent on education and skills.' Gqubule adds: 'We need massive investment in public employment programmes and infrastructure, which has the highest job multiplier in the economy. Government needs to stop cutting these budgets and start treating them as the economic engine they are.' Concrete recommendations include: Creating a central public-private agency to expand and monitor job creation programmes. Abolishing the ineffective employment tax incentive. Redirecting surplus funds like the R137-billion in the Unemployment Insurance Fund toward real job creation. Rethinking rigid qualification requirements for high-demand industries. Naidoo, meanwhile, emphasised the need for ecosystem alignment between the private sector, government training programmes and demand-side job placement. 'We don't want government's money, but we do want their training to connect with our opportunities. There's no point spending billions on TVETs if those graduates aren't getting jobs.' He warned that unless this alignment improved, even good government spending would be ineffective. 'We already spend R500-billion a year on education and training, more per capita than most countries in the world. But up to 50% of that is wasted, because it doesn't lead to employment.' DM
Daily Record
02-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
State Pension age changes could see retirement payment delays for three million people
The State Pension age is set to rise from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028 with a further rise planned to 68. Pension Credit – Could you or someone you know be eligible? The State Pension age is set to start rising from 66 to 67 next year, with the increase due to be completed for all men and women across the UK by 2028. The planned change to the official age of retirement has been in legislation since 2014 with a further rise from 67 to 68 set to be implemented between 2044 and 2046. The State Pension age review, published in 2023, considered the impact of bringing the official age of retirement forward to 2041-2043, which had been a hot topic during the Rishi Sunak administration due to more people living longer, which essentially puts pressure on the UK Government to continue supporting the State Pension - in its current format. The then Conservative government had planned to review the State Pension age rising to 68 within two years of the general election, but those plans were effectively kicked into the long grass when Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour party came into power on July 4. But it could be something the UK Government looks at, and soon, as it must follow the principle of giving people 10 years notice of any changes to the State Pension age - or potentially end up with another situation which has affected an estimated 3.5 million women born in the 1950s. Phoenix Insights has warned that around three million people would see a delay to their retirement plans if the State Pension age increase to 68 is brought forward. New figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show there are now 13 million people claiming the State Pension, including over 1.1m in Scotland. Some 34 per cent are on the New State Pension (post-April 2016) while 66 per cent are receiving the Basic (or Old) State Pension (pre-April 2016). The New and Basic State Pensions are set to rise on April 7 by 4.1 per cent, under the earnings growth measure of the Triple Lock, however, additional elements along with working age and disability benefits, will increase by 1.7 per cent under the September Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate. People on the full New State Pension will see payments rise by £9.05 per week from £221.20 to £230.25 and as the payment is typically made every four weeks this amounts to £921. The uplift will see annual payments rise by £473.60 from £11,502 to £11,973 over the 2025/26 financial year. However, it's important to be aware that not all of the 4.1m people on the New State Pension receive the full amount as it is linked to National Insurance Contributions. People need to pay at least 10 years' worth of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) to be entitled to any State Pension and around 35 years for the full rate, which can be more if someone has been 'contracted out'. Someone on the full Basic State Pension will see weekly payments rise by £6.95 per week from £169.50 to £176.45, or £705.80 every four-week payment period. Annual payments will rise by £361.40 from £8,814 to £9,175.40 over the 2025/26 financial year. pic Patrick Thomson, Head of Research Analysis and Policy at Phoenix Insights, said: 'April's 4.1 per cent State Pension uprating will provide some relief to pensioners while cost pressures remain high. Since 2012, the Triple Lock has increased the State Pension each year by the highest of inflation, wage growth or a 2.5% minimum, and April's uplift is the fourth highest since it was first applied. 'However, the State Pension remains at a critical juncture with questions remaining over its long-term affordability and the future of the Triple Lock. Projections suggests there will be five million more State Pensioners in the UK by 2070 compared to just one million more people of working-age.' Four key findings about the State Pension Phoenix Insights found that: Around a fifth (18%) of adults say they could live on the state pension alone in retirement A third (35%) of the pre-State Pension age group (60-65yrs) have zero private pension saving 45% of adults expect to work beyond their State Pension age to plug gaps in savings 3 million people would see a delay in State Pension payments if the retirement age increase to 68 is brought forward to 2041-2043 Mr Thomson continued: 'Accelerating the State Pension age could mitigate some of the cost challenge, but recent life expectancy projections are less optimistic making policy change potentially more difficult. Bringing forward the State Pension age increase to age 68 to the early 2040s would impact nearly three million people and not everyone will be able to work to a later State Pension age. 'We are expecting another State Pension age review in this parliament which should offer more clarity on the timetable of the future increase to age 68.' He added: 'It's important that any future change to the State Pension is combined with policy interventions to support greater retirement adequacy, including enabling people to remain in work later in life and boosting pension saving through auto-enrolment.' Future State Pension increases The Labour Government has pledged to honour the Triple Lock or the duration of its term and the latest predictions show the following projected annual increases: 2025/26 - 4.1% (the forecast was 4%) 2026/27 - 2.5% 2027/28 - 2.5% 2028/29 - 2.5% 2029/30 - 2.5%
Time of India
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Microsoft founder Bill Gates once stayed up all night to build a game called ‘Donkey' that former Apple employee called ‘most embarrassing'
Microsoft founder and former CEO Bill Gates once developed a video game in a single night, Called , it was a simple 8-bit racing game where players maneuvered a vehicle to avoid donkeys. During a 2001 keynote, Gates shared that he along with Neil Konzen, a programmer at Microsoft stayed up until 4am to build the reason? A 26-year-old Gates then wanted to impress IBM and secure a deal with the company. But it did not have an operating system. With Gates wanted to prove that his software could be powerful and versatile enough for the IBM platform. Although the game failed to impress IBM, it helped Gates gain IBM partnership, it went on to establish Microsoft in the tech world. How Microsoft founder Bill Gates described Speaking during a 2001 keynote, Gates said: 'Actually, it was myself and Neil Konzen at four in the morning with this prototype IBM PC sitting in this small room. IBM insisted that we had to have a lock on the door and we only had this closet that had a lock on it, so we had to do all our development in there and it was always over 100 degrees, but we wrote late at night a little application to show what the Basic built into the IBM PC could do. And so that was It was at the time very thrilling.' The story of does not end here. Andy Hertzfeld, a former Apple employee once recalled the first time Macintosh team saw an IBM PC and singled out as the 'most embarrassing game' on the IBM PC." What Apple's Andy Hertzfeld said about game Hertzfeld wrote: 'The most embarrassing game was a lo-res graphics driving game called 'Donkey'. The player was supposed to be driving a car down a slowly scrolling, poorly rendered 'road', and could hit the space bar to toggle the jerky motion. Every once in a while, a brown blob would fill the screen, which was supposed to be a donkey manifesting in the middle of the road. If you didn't hit the space bar in time, you would crash into the donkey and lose the game. We thought the concept of the game was as bad the crude graphics that it used. Since the game was written in BASIC, you could list it out and see how it was written. We were surprised to see that the comments at the top of the game proudly proclaimed the authors: Bill Gates and Neil Konzen. Neil was a bright teenage hacker who I knew from his work on the Apple II (who would later become Microsoft's technical lead on the Mac project) but we were amazed that such a thoroughly bad game could be co-authored by Microsoft's co-founder, and that he would actually want to take credit for it in the comments.'
